evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

Nyandungu Urban Wetland Eco-Park — State-Funded Wetland Restoration

Rwanda · Kigali · See the Rwanda profile · See the Kigali profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 21% 60/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Rwanda's government restored a degraded 121.7-hectare urban wetland in Kigali into an eco-park (2016–2022, Rwf 4.5bn); an independent 2026 survey found bird species nearly doubled (83→158) and plant species doubled (260→523), with 110,000+ visitors in 2025.

83 to 158 species
Bird species recorded (2016-2026)
260 to 523 species
Plant species recorded (2016-2026)
29 to 41 families
Aquatic macroinvertebrate families (2016-2026)
110,000+ visitors/year
Annual visitors (2025)
Nyandungu Urban Wetland Eco-Park — State-Funded Wetland Restoration

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) / Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA)
Period
2016–2022 restoration; opened July 2022, ongoing
Keywords
wetland restoration, urban biodiversity, ecotourism, climate adaptation

Context

Nyandungu was a degraded, polluted wetland on Kigali's eastern edge, long used for informal dumping and unregulated farming.

Objectives

From 2016, REMA, financed by the Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA) with the UK government, the Italian government and UNEP, set out to restore 121.7 hectares (about 70 ha wetland, 50 ha forest) into a public eco-park.

Activities

Restoration rebuilt catchment and recreation ponds, rehabilitated streams and re-established a native fig forest, at a cost of roughly Rwf 4.5 billion (over US$5 million) over six years. The park opened on 8 July 2022 with 10 km of walking/cycling paths, a medicinal garden, an information centre and a restaurant, run commercially under an MOU with QA Venue Solutions Rwanda, with entrance and amenity fees supporting maintenance.

Results

An independent RCID survey validated in April 2026 recorded bird species rising from 83 to 158 and plant species from 260 to 523 since restoration began, with aquatic macroinvertebrate families increasing from 29 to 41. The park drew over 110,000 visitors in 2025 and was designated a Ramsar 'Wetland City', winning a 2025 Star Wetland Centre award.

Conclusions

The restoration cost and the park's revenue self-sufficiency are not independently audited, and published wetland-complex size figures vary (121.7 ha for the eco-park versus up to 219 ha cited for the wider catchment elsewhere), so scale figures should be read as approximate.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — Roughly Rwf 4.5 billion (over US$5 million) invested 2016-2022; stated cost is close to the high/very_high boundary, so the conservative 'high' band is used.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Six years of restoration construction (2016-2022), open and operating continuously since July 2022.
Staffing & skills
Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA), QA Venue Solutions Rwanda (commercial site operator under MOU)

Conditions for success

  • Multi-donor state financing (FONERWA, UK, Italy, UNEP)
  • Commercial operating MOU generating entrance/amenity fee revenue for upkeep
  • Ramsar 'Wetland City' recognition supporting long-term stewardship

Common failure modes

  • Restoration cost and revenue self-sufficiency not independently audited
  • Published wetland-complex size figures are inconsistent across sources

Where it fits

Governance type
national government agency
Scale
city district (121.7 ha)
Income level
low-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

Similar practices you may find useful